an insatiable appetite for my region by VINCENT NATTRESS

Turkey Two Ways

Our 2010 crop of Narragansett Turkeys, the oldest breed of turkey there is.

While I have been buying Heritage Breed turkeys for the past eight years, this is the first time that they are making the very short trip from our back lawn to the oven, never having left our sight. We got a bit of a late start, the birds having hatched out in the first week of June, so we will be culling two of the smaller hens rather than the big toms, which we will retain for breeding next years crop.Here is the classic recipe I have long used for preparing heritage birds, with the breast brined and roasted on the bone and the legs cooked confit style. Enjoy.

Heritage Turkey Two Ways

I am a supporter of Heritage Breed turkeys for two reasons: it is the right thing to do, and you will find they are the best turkeys you have ever tasted. I separate the birds into three parts: the legs, back bones and breasts on the bone. The backs will be roasted and used for stock, and eventually gravy. The legs are cured and then cooked as confit. The breasts are brined and then roasted on Thanksgiving day. While there is a little more preparation time involved, cooking the bird this way means that there is a lot shorter cooking time on Thanksgiving day. In addition, this is the perfect way to ensure perfectly cooked breast and leg meat. Here is the recipe for the confit and for the brine for the breasts.

Season the legs well on all sides with salt. Place them in a bowl and toss them with the spices, garlic & thyme. Arrange them in a baking dish in which they fit well, but which is deep enough to submerge them in the fat. A casserole works well. Cover the legs and all the spices with parchment or wax paper and, using a dish that is slightly smaller than the diameter of the pan they are in, weight them down. Jars or cans of food work well for this. Place in the refrigerator over night or for as long as two days to allow them to cure a little. When you are ready to cook the legs, heat the fat to 250° and pour it over the legs. Preheat your oven to 300°. Cover the legs with foil and bake them for 4 hours, or until done. The bones will fall out easily when the confit is done, but it is preferable not to brown the meat at all in the process. Cool the legs to room temperature and then refrigerate. At this point they will keep indefinitely as long as completely submerged in the solidified fat. To serve, I like to remove the bones and cook the legs on the skin in a blue steel or a non-stick pan, until the skin is super crispy and the meat is hot through.

Ingerdients for the Brined Breast

1 Double breast on the bone

1 gallon cold water

2 bay leaves

1 Cup kosher salt

½ Cup light brown sugar

1 tsp. Ground white pepper

2 Tbls. Fresh sage laves

Turkey Breast Brine.

Combine all of the ingredients in the brine and stir until they are dissolved. Place the breasts in a large container and cover them with the brine. Place in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours or up to 4 days. To cook, remove the breasts and dry them well. Preheat your oven to 325°. Season the outside with salt and pepper. In a thick bottom pan – if you have a good, thick roasting pan you do it right in that on the stove top – brown the skin side of the breast well in a little olive oil. Turn the breast over and place it in a roasting pan. Roast it for about 40 minutes to one hour – this is going to vary wildly depending on size of the bird and the calibration of your oven – to an internal temperature of 165° (it will carry over to at least 175°). Allow it to rest, tented with foil, for at least 15 minutes before carving .

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Welcome

This blog is an exploration of my region's food, season by season. I will focus on foraging, farming and how to cook what I find. I will also discuss food politics and the history of what we eat and why.

Foraging often reveals traditions that make this region unique. I will do my best to remind us of some of these vanishing traditions, because they reveal a lot about our cultural history.

Agriculture shapes the landscape we live in. Right now farming is undergoing a critical transition. More than ever we all need to understand the importance of diverse, regional food production, for what it means to our region, our bucolic surroundings, the safety and stability of our food system and our own personal health.

Exploring these food issues reveals a lot about our environmental and economic issues too. I will ask questions about the ways in which we are changing our food systems and how, as a result, our food is changing us.

This is a bountiful area, but also a changing area, and population growth, environmental degradation and vanishing food traditions threaten to change the way we feed ourselves forever.

Food is a lens through which to view where we are and how we got here. Because of this we can begin to ask the question about what to do next, so that we can live our lives more deliciously while leaving something behind that is worthy of the next generation.